An Adventure Scooter….?
Honda confirms production of the new ‘X-ADV’
While we all wait with bated breath for the actual reveal of Honda’s new Fireblade, rather than some clickbait ‘artist impression’ bullshit or dreamt up conjecture…. Honda have seen fit to whet our appetite by officially confirming that their new ‘X-ADV’ is officially slated for production. Don’t know about you, but not much salivating here…
But, funnily enough, my first motorcycle was a pedal-start 50cc Motobecane moped I secured in late 1988, after turning 16. A French made machine that taught me the basics of maintenance, normally by the side of the road, while trying to get the magneto cover off to fix the points again.. In Western Australia you could get a licence for a 50cc moped/scooter at 16. You had to do the full motorcycle test as per if you were going for a motorcycle licence, but once passed, the freedom to wreak havoc on the roads was mine. The funny thing about these Motobecane things though, were that they were nothing like the scooters of today. It had full size rims, long travel forks and a twin-shock rear end. Obviously, a 16-year-old was always going to take such a machine off-road where ever possible, be that bush tracks, across the local football fields on a dewy morning, or basically anywhere he could, including through Carousel Shopping Centre early in the morning, if said 16-year-old had woken up with the bit of the devil in him.. A few mates also got them so, we, of course, raced each other everywhere. I broke three number plates off when monoing it. A few of the local bikie types used to put oil down in front of their house at the end of their street, then laugh their heads off as I would do circle work on this moped. I reckon a few of the locals would have breathed a sigh of relief when I pissed off and joined the Defence Force a few months later…
Anyway, back to this new ‘X-ADV’ thingo… At first glance of course I, like most others, probably, just ask why..?
Honda have based the ‘X-ADV’ on the City Adventure concept machine displayed at EICMA last year. Promising to marry the convenience and day-to-day practicality that a scooter offers, with a bit of a spirit for adventure come the weekend.
Features include an upright riding position for high visibility and long travel suspension to handle rougher road surfaces.
As it will also debut with Honda’s dual-clutch transmission I can’t exactly imagine the ‘X-ADV’ will be under 10 grand. Thus it’s appeal might be somewhat limited, if you could ride it at 16 like I could that old Motobecane I reckon it would have a lot more of a chance in the Australian market. But if lawmakers had their way we probably couldn’t ride it until we were 30 or something stupid.
The X-ADV will be shown to the public for the first time at the EICMA show in Milan, from 8th to 13th November 2016. We will have to wait until then for the full technical specifications.
